As parents, we always are looking for ways to reach out to our kids. We want to have that daily exchange of brief conversation about their day and how was it, how our child handles a situation, or play with friends. Here I would like to share three of my favorite strategies I always recommended and have proven to make the magic happens for many parents!
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Let me tell you
1. If you share a thought, joke, idea, or problem, your child will share with you. It sounds simple right? It is simple if you keep it simple. After sharing your own comment ask him or her what do you think?
How, What Happened…
2. Open-Ended question with a twist. By now you might know something about the teacher (classroom rules, special activity, classroom pet, or playground.), some of the peers in the classroom, cafeteria lunch menu, etc. Use it to ask open-ended questions speech-generatingActivities. For example,questions activities I saw Michael (his closest friend in the classroom) this morning, what are some of the games you guys play together? Wow, that must be fun. How do you play it? etc.
“It does not matter what type of communication your child and you use. This can be verbal, sign language, gestures, or a speech generating device… if you share and listen, your child will too.”
Roll your sleeves
3. Hands-On Activities: Cooking. It is one of the best tricks I have found to be 99% effective. Hands-on like cooking provides an opportunity to share and connect in a smooth way. Other ideas: drawing, building or making a craft, etc.
Keep in mind:
Listening means…
1. Pay Attention
· Eye contact
· Putting aside distracting thoughts, T.V., phone, etc.
2. Show That You're Listening
· Smiling and nodding
3. Provide Feedback
· Asking relevant questions and/or making statements.
· By asking relevant questions you are showing your child that you have an interest in what he or she has been saying.
Breaks in communication happen…
Sometimes a child, who is finally talking, is in the middle of a story (and talking longer than we expected it!) and an interruption happens: an important phone call, a baby sibling cries, or you need to finish preparing dinner. This is life! So, do not rush your child, or make gestures so he can finish quickly his or her story or telling to “hurry up”, “it is too long”, “stop, tell me later, something more important came out”, and so on. Unless you know ahead of time that you will be receiving an important call or you will need to finish something, tell your child before so he won’t be surprised. Otherwise, if it is unexpected, simply, look at your child and tell him that interruptions sometimes happen. Ask for a break and provide possible set-up times for you to hear the story, such as during or after dinner or before bedtime.
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